2,893 Inspirational Passion Project Ideas
Turn inspirations into your passion project.
This collection of project ideas, shared by Polygence mentors, is meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.
- AI/ML
- Animation
- Arts
- Biology
- Biotech
- Business
- Cancer
- Chemistry
- Cognitive
- Computer Science
- Creative Writing
- Dance
- Dentistry
- Economics
- Engineering
- Entomology
- Environmental Science
- Ethics
- Fashion
- Finance
- Game Design
- Healthcare
- History
- Illustration
- Languages
- Linguistics
- Literature
- Math
- Medicine
- Music
- Neuroscience
- Nutrition
- Organizational Leadership
- Philanthropy
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Physics
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Quantitative
- Social
- Social Science
- Sports Analytics
- Statistics
- Surgery
Universal Design for Transition
Building on the tenets of Universal Design for Learning, the intentions of the Universal Design for Transition framework help special educators address both the transition and instructional design needs of their students. IDEA 2004 requires that IEP teams include goals designed to support the transition to post-high school activities. Unfortunately, these requirements become a barrier for special education teachers (Scott et al., 2019). To address this challenge, Thoma et al. (2009) proposed Universal Design for Transition (UDT) as a practical solution to ensure students with disabilities receive proper academic instruction and transition planning. However, many special education teachers are not aware of the UDT approach and report that their pre-service programs did not prepare them adequately to address their students' academic and transition needs (Scott et al., 2019). Interview your current teacher, and pervious teachers and report on how they incorporate the Universal Design for Transition into their instruction and engage them about their teacher preparation experiences.
Neuroscience, Quantitative, Linguistics
Go To Market
Take an idea, be it a product or service, and build it into an actual business plan. Focus on creating value for your customer through your business and create a winning sales pitch to secure sales and/or funding.
Economics, Quantitative, Finance
Develop MATLAB/Python code to visualize trajectories of satellites
Based on the equations of motion for objects in space, we can visualize the motion in MATLAB/Python. This requires knowledge of conic sections and the coding environment, however it gives deep insight into how forces work and their mathematical interpretation can lead to actual simulation.
Physics, Engineering, Quantitative, Math
Coming of Age: Gen Z's Higher education attainment and first job outcomes
This project explores how the elder cohort of Gen Z (aged 18-24) fare in terms of college attendance, college completion, postgraduate education attainment and labor market outcomes. Comparative analysis can be done among Gen Z, Gen Y and Gen X.
Quantitative
Tackling Critical Issues in Education
Educational Inequities: Explore the root causes and consequences of educational inequities, focusing on disparities in resources, access, and opportunities. Policy Analysis: Develop an understanding of educational policies at local, national, and international levels and analyze their impact on marginalized communities. Community Engagement: Learn strategies for community engagement, collaboration, and advocacy to address systemic issues in education. Review of Educational Policies: Examine existing educational policies, identifying areas that contribute to or address systemic issues such as inequality, discrimination, and lack of resources. Interviews with Stakeholders: Conduct interviews with educators, students, parents, and policymakers to gain diverse perspectives on the challenges faced in education. Analysis of Case Studies: Investigate case studies of successful initiatives or interventions that have positively impacted educational equity. Policy Advocacy Proposal: Develop a proposal for a policy change aimed at addressing a specific systemic issue in education. Include a comprehensive analysis, potential challenges, and recommendations for implementation. Community-Led Initiative: Create a plan for a community-led initiative that aims to address a particular educational inequity. Outline the goals, methods, and expected outcomes of the initiative. Research Paper on Systemic Challenges: Write a research paper examining the systemic challenges in education, discussing their origins, consequences, and potential solutions. Advocacy Campaign: Design a multimedia advocacy campaign to raise awareness about a specific educational issue, targeting policymakers, educators, and the general public. Inclusive Curriculum Proposal: Develop a proposal for a more inclusive and culturally responsive curriculum that addresses the diverse needs of students and promotes equity. Community Forum: Organize and facilitate a community forum to discuss critical issues in education, bringing together stakeholders to share experiences, insights, and potential solutions.
Biology, Quantitative, Statistics
Number theory
How do we know that there are no nonzero integers x, y, and z such that x^4 + y^4 = z^4? How can you tell whether a number is prime? Given numbers n and m, how can you tell whether n differs from some square number by a multiple of m? Can complex numbers tell us anything about ordinary integers? How can you send messages that an eavesdropper won't be able to decipher? These are some of the questions that you'll be able to answer when you learn number theory.
Quantitative, Math
Evaluating the Fairness of Large Language Models
This project could go in a wide variety of directions. However, the central concept here is to define certain language traits (eg: using "soda" vs using "pop") that are correlated with certain demographics. Then, we have the opportunity to analyze how good the responses from a large language model (eg: ChatGPT) are based on different language traits. Ultimately, we want to know if ChatGPT is biased towards certain traits.
Computer Science, Sports Analytics, Quantitative, AI/ML
Real Effects of Environmental Disclosures
An important strain of accounting research examines whether accounting has "real effects". For example, researchers may investigate whether accounting regulations affect firms' investment decisions, employees' career decisions or consumers' purchasing decisions. Many accounting regulations require firms to disclose additional information about their operations in the financial statements. For this reason, accounting researchers are particularly interested in the real effects of disclosures. Recently, Google started disclosing the carbon dioxide emissions for flights in its search engine results, as well as whether those emissions are above or below average for a flight with that departure airport and destination. In this research project, I examine whether this environmental disclosure effects individual's flight choices.
Quantitative, Business, Organizational Leadership
Cookie Wars: How Lawsuits Shape Firm-Level Evaluations
A possible research project could explore the impact of being sued on small businesses, specifically in the food industry. The study could focus on the example of Crumbl suing Dirty Dough, as well as other similar cases. Using data from Yelp, the study could examine changes in customer ratings and reviews before and after the lawsuit. Additionally, natural language processing techniques could be used to analyze customer comments to understand their perceptions of the company before and after the lawsuit. The study could also investigate any changes in the company's social media presence and overall reputation. By conducting this research, the study could provide insights on how being sued could potentially benefit small businesses by bringing more positive attention to the firm, depending on the audience and their preferences.
Economics, Quantitative, Social Science
Spectral graph theory
A graph is just a finite set of vertices, with some pairs of vertices connected by edges. Graphs can be described using matrices. What can the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of these matrices tell you about the graph? A lot, as it turns out! Students will need to know some linear algebra for this project.
Quantitative, Math
Can you always verify whether a Geometric Mean of a finite collection of numbers equals to one of them?
Constructive Real Numbers CRNs were introduced by the founder of Computer Science Alan Turing. Essentially a CRN is a computer generated sequence of rational numbers about which you know how fast it converges. Constructive Mathematics was developed in two schools founded by Bishop in the USA and by Markov and Shanin in Russia. You are give a finite set of numbers. The easy part of the project is to show that when the numbers are rational it is easy to create an algorithm that verifies if the geometric mean of these numbers equals to one of them. The challenging part is to show that such an algorithm does not exist in general when the numbers are CRNs.
Economics, Quantitative, Math
Chemical Production Scheduling
In this project, you will explore the science of manufacturing and how to organize a chemical plant on a high-level such that all of the batches and tasks that are being run are optimized. This entails scheduling operations in a timely manner while also maximizing the revenue and minimizing the costs of production. You will explore the effects of optimal scheduling on products and demand specifications while analyzing the sensitivity of the profits on raw materials/inputs. Prerequisites No prior coding skills are required, but you must be interested in learning how to develop algebraic formulations from real-world problems.
Engineering, Quantitative, Math
The Persuasive Potential of Message Framing, Temporal Orientation, and Self-Affirmation in Anti-Vaping Campaigns
This is a project I am currently working on that aims to better understand what aspects of anti-vaping messages are most persuasive. Additionally, the project looks to establish how successful certain messages might be in changing attitudes and behaviors among individuals who use e-cigarettes.
Social, Psychology, Quantitative, Social Science, Public Health
Chicago Food Health Inspection
For all the foodies out there, this is a great dataset to learn more about local and chain restaurants in Chicago. You can stratify the dataset and review inspection infractions based on your interests (like fast food chains). We can even feature engineer additional predictors to help predict whether or not a restaurant will have a violation. If you're not up for model building, we could even create an interactive dashboard solution to help visualize and better understand groups and patterns in the data. It really is all up to you! Dataset: https://data.cityofchicago.org/Health-Human-Services/Food-Inspections/4ijn-s7e5
Computer Science, Sports Analytics, Quantitative, Statistics
NBA shot selection analysis using SportVU tracking data
The NBA releases an abundance of coordinate-based tracking data for each game. This project will make use of the 25 frames of data per second to not only identify when shots have been taken but also retrieve key information about the selection of shots by each team and player. The student will build an app to display shot charts and also potentially classify how smart a shot is based on metrics like score differential, shot distance, defender distance, shot clock usage, etc. This will help build a compelling analysis of what differentiates good shooters from smart shooters!
Computer Science, Sports Analytics, Quantitative, AI/ML
"Your zip code matters more than your genetic code"
Place matters for your health. Where you grow up, live, work, and play are important predictors of long-term health. In this project, you'll explore how neighborhoods (e.g. economic resources, access to healthy food, green spaces, and education) impact risk for cardiovascular disease AND racial and ethnic disparities. You will learn about public health theories and frameworks, social determinants of health, and health disparities. Students can explore this topic using quantitative or qualitative methods, or both! Quantitative methods include utilizing publicly available, nationally representative surveys such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Qualitative methods include conducting go-along interviews in which students go on a walking tour in neighborhoods with individuals living in that neighborhood.
Quantitative, Social Science, Public Health
Green Building Retrofit Proposal
Advanced Research Paper What the Student Will Learn: - Principles of energy efficiency and sustainable building design. - Research and analysis skills for assessing the energy performance of existing buildings. - Project planning and budgeting for sustainable retrofits. - Presentation and communication skills for pitching sustainability proposals. Synopsis of the Process of Information Gathering: - Building Assessment: The student will select an existing building (e.g., a school, office, or community center) and conduct a thorough energy audit to assess its current energy performance. This includes evaluating insulation, lighting, HVAC systems, and other energy-consuming components. - Energy Data Collection: Gather historical energy consumption data for the selected building to understand its energy usage patterns and identify areas of improvement. - Sustainable Retrofit Options: Research and compile a list of sustainable retrofit options, such as upgrading lighting to LED, improving insulation, installing solar panels, or implementing smart building technologies. - Cost Analysis: Estimate the costs associated with each retrofit option, including materials, labor, and potential return on investment through energy savings. - Environmental Impact Assessment: Analyze the potential environmental benefits of the proposed retrofits, such as reduced carbon emissions and energy conservation. - Community Engagement: Engage with building occupants and relevant stakeholders to gather input and build support for the retrofit project. - Proposal Development: Create a comprehensive proposal for the green building retrofit, including a detailed plan, cost projections, and potential funding sources or incentives. Potential Student Outcomes: - A well-researched and documented green building retrofit proposal. - A persuasive presentation summarizing the proposal's key points. - Enhanced research and analytical skills in the context of energy efficiency and sustainability. - An understanding of the financial and environmental aspects of sustainable building retrofits. - Improved communication and presentation skills. This project allows students to explore energy efficiency and sustainable design principles in the context of existing buildings. They will learn how to assess energy performance, identify retrofit opportunities, and create a compelling proposal for making a building more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient. The outcome will be a detailed retrofit proposal that can serve as a blueprint for future sustainable building improvement projects.
Physics, Engineering, Quantitative, Business
Are mangrove restoration efforts effective? Measuring the long-term impacts of restoration efforts.
The re-planting of mangrove habitats have been a popular tool in habitat restoration. However, emerging research shows that many of these restoration efforts don't last. Using satellite imagery, measure the growth (or decline) of a site where a large-scale mangrove restoration operation occurred.
Quantitative, Environmental Science, Social Science
Research Project
Here is what working on a research project with me would look like from start to finish at a graduate level. -discuss what your career goals are and identify how the research project can help you -identify your interests, questions that you would like answered through research -literature review: you'll search for the studies that have already been conducted and what they have found (writing up a literature review is an accomplishment of its own and we can present it or publish it) -identify the gap in the literature and solidify your research questions -design the study to answer your research questions: are the questions better answered in a quantitative (e.g., surveys) or qualitative (e.g., interviews) method? -recruit for participants -analyze the data and finalize the results -write out discussion: using the results of the study, what are the real-world implications? -submit study to a conference and/or journal to publish. Remember this is typically what graduate students do. We can work together to build a project that is more appropriate for you and your interests. I want to make sure you get the experience you're looking for!
Quantitative
Scientific Literature Review
Do you want to know what the scientific literature says about somethingyou are interested in? Let's review the scientific literature to support your project with a review of current research of a topic of your interest.
Neuroscience, Quantitative, Linguistics